Getting Back on Track: Olislagers' charge was to unite the airport and its neighbors. Next up: FAA dollars

Article
Apr 8, 2003

By John F. Infanger

ENGLEWOOD, CO – When Robert Olislagers, A.A.E., came here
in September, 2000, the airport board that hired him gave him the primary
goal of making peace with the nearby communities. Despite its position
as the second busiest general aviation airport in the U.S., the ongoing
local battles were hindering the airport’s future, particularly in
maintaining basic infrastructure. Since that time, Olislagers and other
civic leaders have made monumental strides in finding common goals and
creating a united direction for the airport. Next on the agenda: restore
FAA funding, which has been withheld since 1998.

Ironically,
much of the dramatic business growth in the Interstate 25 corridor south
of downtown Denver is connected to Centennial Airport, built in 1968 on
the high plains just east of the Rocky Mountains. "Those 6,000 businesses
represent about 25 percent of the entire gross domestic product of the
state," explains Olislagers.

Centennial Fuel Sales

Year

1988

1994

1996

1998

2001

2002

Total

(Jet-A, Avgas) - Gallons

4 million

5.2 million

7.2 million

9 million

11.2 million

.12 million

Since the
new Denver Interna-tional Airport opened in 1994, activity at Centennial
has skyrocketed, evidenced by the growth in fuel sales [chart] that have
increased by an average million gallons per year since. More importantly,
says Olislagers, corporates came, changing the complexion of the GA airport.

The airport’s
1,400 acres include parallel north-south runways, one 10,000-foot, a crosswind,
major corporate flight departments, an FAA operated control tower, customs,
and annual operations of some 421,000, of which some 30 percent are flight
training. Three major fixed base operations are here: Signature Flight
Support, TAC Air, and Denver Jet Center, which has the majority of the
airport’s acreage under lease. Some 700 aircraft are based at Centennial.
Pilatus and Piper distributorships are on airport, as is Adam Aircraft,
which is designing a new personal jet.

There is
also an array of businesses located outside the fence on airport-owned
property, including a major hotel, two hockey facilities,

a family
fun/ golf/sports complex, a training center for the Colorado Avalanche
NHL team, and a golf course owned by the airport and managed under private
contract. All this activity accounts for annual airport revenues of some
$5 million, and the airport operates in the black though it is hampered
in its development because of FAA’s decision to withhold Airport
Improvement Program funds, brought about when the airport voted to ban
scheduled service, violating the grant assurances. The ban came about,
say officials, because of the distrust that had brewed in the nearby communities
and an underlying fear that Centenntial was about to become an air carrier
airport.

Comments
Olislagers, "We really had a problem here. It was not until we started
some outreach initiatives that it began to change. Now we do Congressional
appreciation days and match corporate users up with Con-gressional reps.
They never politicked here before; yesterday, I was at the State Capitol
testifying on a bill, which we never used to do.

"We’ve
got everybody talking now. All the mayors were part of the compact [agreed
to in 2002], with the homeowners associations, where we agreed that we
will permit nine seats or less [commercial service], with the goal of
working toward trying to keep scheduled service out."

Legislating Change

As a way
to get FAA to reconsider, Olislagers has been spearheading a move to get
the rules rewritten, more specifically rewritten as they apply to one
airport: Centennial. The recent Omnibus Appropriations Bill passed in
Washington does just that, with wording orchestrated by Olislagers that
would allow Centennial to ban scheduled service. In essence, Section 321
could lead to renewed FAA funding.

Says Olislagers,
"The language basically says, any general aviation airport with more
than 300,000 operations in Class B airspace with an air carrier airport
that does not contribute to significant delays may be exempt from having
to accept scheduled passenger service." He says the only other GA
airport that it would apply to is Van Nuys, CA, where it is not an issue.
Olislagers has reapplied to FAA for funding, and a spokesperson at the
agency says it is under review. Says Olislagers, "We’re anticipating
that we will be reinstated for funding, and that was the goal."

One GA Approach to Security

Centennial Airport is in the midst of beta-testing a comprehensive security monitoring system being installed by Navigance, Inc. It is a central part of an overall
security system being implemented since 9/11, at a total cost now approaching
$1 million.

Immediately
following 9/11, Centennial tacked on a 3 cent/gallon surcharge on its
jet-A fuel flowage fees, two cents on avgas, to pay for security improvements.
Other increased revenues since have led to elimination of the fee.

Airport director
Robert Olislager says the cost of the Navigance system will approach $100,000
when fully installed.

"For
a full-blown, airport-wide monitoring system, I think that’s actually
a bargain," he says. "The nice thing about wireless is it’s
very inexpensive to hook all of these cameras and access controls together.
A real problem with hard-wiring is it’s expensive, and at some airports
you just can’t install it. Wireless gives you the opportunity to
do it for about $2,000 per gate, to set up all the equipment and to have
it integrated."

Explains
Robert Jandebeur, president of Tulsa-based Navigance, "We stand to
develop a national model based on a common sense approach which does not
center around just security, but rather a solution which offers return
on investment. Part of the ROI comes from working with the FBOs and corporate
tenants to develop a network and the standard which then allows sharing
of the infrastructure. This means possible common cameras, biometrics,
and wireless."

Jandebeur
points out that besides Centennial’s beta site, Navigance is in discussions
with Teterboro (NJ) Airport, another premier GA facility. "We have
three national leasing firms ready to offer very competitive leases, to
include municipalities," he says.